USF to host election night watch party, public invited

Party begins at 5:00 p.m.

The University of South Florida's Election Night watch party is expected to draw upwards of 500 people. It starts at 5:00 p.m., and is open to the public.

WFTS

WFTS

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TAMPA BAY - The University of South Florida's Election Night watch party is expected to draw upwards of 500 people.

"There will be a big screen and they're going to be projecting it on the side of the bookstore," said USF Student Body President Brian Goff.

The public is invited and so is a lot of media. Both ABC and CBS national news networks will broadcast live from campus.

The BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Company and Sky News all plan to broadcast on USF's campus as well. The watch party is billed to be the biggest in Hillsborough County.

It comes on the heels of a Republican Presidential Candidates' debate upping USF's national image.

It's part of why Paul Stanworth and his crew will stage at USF's Marshall Student Center tomorrow night.

"We picked Tampa and we picked Florida because it's always an interesting election story. Of course, because we're so tight here in Florida, somewhere that if the candidate wins Florida, they win the election. It's happened for the last few times," he said.

In 2008, the lines at USF's voting precinct were unusually long and some voters were turned away because there weren't enough voting booths and ballot scanners to keep up.

The number of registered voters here has doubled since then standing at nearly 1800 people.

"There were some issues. Some students weren't aware that they had to be registered in this county to be able to come to the USF campus to vote. But this year, a lot more efforts have been going out to make sure students are registered in the correct precincts," said Samantha Donaldson.

The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections has added more booths and machines so there's not another problem like four-years ago.

But there is one thing USF hasn't been able to troubleshoot.

"No rain. No rain. We're hoping and hoping no rain," said Donaldson.

USF Student Government says it will move the event inside if there is bad weather.

DETAILS:

- Event begins at 5:00 p.m. Nov. 6th

-The event will be held on the lawn outside of the Marshall Student Center, located at the University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave., Tampa, Fla.